Warm Summer Nights & Happiness

ITS OFFICIALLY SUMMER!!! I think/hope! Yesterday was the most beautiful day I have spent in Buenos Aires and last night it was so so so warm. I spent most of the day outside. First, I got an amazing hair cut at this salon called Cerini. I was really nervous at first because I was scared that I wouldn't be able to communicate what I wanted done, and I was also even more scared that I would end up with the ever-popular girl-mullet that is oh so popular here, especially among girls my age. I was nervous, but I looked like a straggly Mark Kate Olsen and needed to cut my hair. So i went and I told him that I wanted a FEW layers and a few centimeters off (inches wasn't an option..). I was glad that I exaggerated that I didn't want a lot of layers, because I have a TON of layers. I freaked out when he took the razor blade/thinner to my hair, thinking that he was going to thin my hair and shape it into a mullet, but it was fine! Then Becca and I took the burning, steaming, smoking hot subway to Palermo Soho for a café and a little shopping! It was such a gorgeous day out, all we wanted to do was be outside and walking around. It was so amazing not to have to wear a jacket. Plus, everyone knows that everything looks better when its sunny out.

We met Emily, Molly and Liam in Palermo and walked around for a bit. Emily, Molly and I did a little shopping afterwards, but mostly just looking! I did buy an excellent white-t shirt from Maria Cher (I couldn't help it, Mom!!). Afterwards we were hungry for lunch so we went to this adorable café called Boutique del Libro, which is a nice little book store with a café inside. It was so cute. We ate delicious sandwiches (and the tons of Halloween candy that Emily's mom sent!!) and talked. Molly and Emily are so great- I have class with both of them and we have just started hanging out more. I didn't think that I would make new friends in October, so late in the semester, but I have and it has been so much fun.

I arrived home around 9 pm, just as it was getting dark. We just did daylight savings and it stays light so much later now!! I told Amanda, my host mom, that I wasn't hungry because I had such a late lunch. She said she wasn't either, and hadn't even prepared dinner yet. We decided to take a walk - it was so nice out still and she'd been inside playing bridge all day. We walked to and through the park and ended up at McDonald's, one of Amanda's guilty pleasures for sure. I have also recently discovered the most delicious "Momento Dulce" at McDonald's, which is vanilla and dulce de leche soft serve ice cream in a cone. It costs 2 pesos aka 30 cents. I decided to try something new. While Amanda ordered a Big Mac - which is so funny because she is so so tiny, I ordered the Intenso Placer (Which literally translates to "Intense Pleasure."). It is awkward to order -- "Hello, yes, can I have an Intense Pleasure please?" Nonetheless it was delicious and Amanda had one too. We stayed outside for a while and talked about everything - family, my sisters, education (public and private), the chicos (her sons), her husband who passed away, the weather, my experience in BA...everything. It was so so much fun. I love her, she is so sweet, has great and interesting points of view. She is smart and funny and honest and I have so much fun spending time with her.

After recovery from my McBrick, I met up with Molly and Emily in Palermo. We started at Congo in their outside garden bar area and then ended up at Kika after. It was my second time at Kika but it was so much fun this time- it was hip hop night, they played great tunes and we danced all night. Thursday we went to Lost as always - so now we have a routine of weekend dance places that all play hip hop.. Its very necessary.

I just got home from dinner at Sudestada, an Asian Fusion place in Palermo Hollywood...it was sooooo good. I had a great chicken wok thing, so many flavors I haven't tasted in so long! I decided to stay in for the night and catch up on sleep (and Gossip Girl, House, Lipstick Jungle...you understand...haha).

Eve comes to visit next weekend!!!!!!!!! I am so so excited. I'm sure I will have lots of fun stories to write about while she is here!!!!

That's about it for now, hope you are all doing well. Lots of love!! Liv

Bariloche

This past weekend I went to Bariloche, which is a zone in Patagonia, in the Southern region of Argentina. I went with my program, COPA - every semester COPA organizes a trip, so this year our destination was Bariloche. I really had no idea what to expect because I didn't have to plan anything, so I didn't really do any research. We usually read the guidebooks before we go on a trip so we know what to do or why we should go there in the first place. I really left this one all up to COPA and it was great. It was for sure the best trip i have taken so far. Bariloche is so incredibly beautiful - it looks a lot like Lake Tahoe actually, but a lot bigger. There are so many different types of climates and land in such a small area. What I mean by land is that there is dessert, jungle, forest, snow/mountain, etc. There is a huge lake that the town, San Carlos de Bariloche, is kind of centered around. The town is really cute- its a total ski town. The place is packed with tourists and skiers during the winter, and all year round really. When we first arrived we got a few hours of free time in the town before our first mini-excursion, so my friends and I went to the chocolate factories, of course. The town is known for its amazing chocolate. We spent a large amount of time in this one place called Mamuschka. We bought and ate so much chocolate. It was also Mother's Day weekend, so there were lots of deals and promotions and we could not help ourselves. After town, the tour guides brought us up and around the mountains. We took a chair lift up to an amazing view. After a bit more exploring it was dinner time and we went to a very traditional cerveceria (brewery) where we ate way too much meat!!

We went to bed so early that night - about 10 pm, after surfing the 3 channels we had in our hotel room for about an hour. The next day, Saturday, we basically took the bus on a tour of the entire mountain and dessert areas. We stopped many places along the way to take pictures and enjoy the view. We took a small hike to a beautiful waterfall and ate lunch next to a river. It was so relaxing and different from what I had been doing during my other weekend trips - we usually travel to other cities which are similar but smaller than Buenos Aires. Here, we were really in nature and able to enjoy being outside. We had dinner that night, after a few more hours at the chocolate factories, at a great placed called La Familia Weiss. There is a lot of swiss/german influence in the city.

The next day was the INTENSE hike up Cerro López. It was really hard. We started out in a forest and ended up, as you can see by the mountains, in a snowstorm/Narnia-like open space. It was so cool. I did complain, I'm glad my Dad wasn't there to listen to it, but I made it! Barely.

Overall the trip was amazing. It was so well-organized and I had a great group of people with me. I actually met some new people and got to know other people a lot better. It was so great to be outside, eat so much chocolate, stay in a hotel instead of a hostel, and have a trip totally planned for you. We saw some of the most amazing parts of the country on this trip and some o the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. It was such a fun trip! If you ever come to Argentina or want a great vacation spot to ski, go to Bariloche.

Photos for the Non-Facebookers

The pic on the left is Molly, Lissy, Emily and I at Lansky. The one below is from La Plata- in the background is the big government building and the monument on the right is for Eva Perón. The waterfall picture is from Iguazú :)
The 2 churches are from Córdoba.
The picture outside is from Juan's game- Juan is on the right, then Joanna, me and Becca.

Springtime in Buenos Aires

Hey! How is everyone? Things are great here. I just finished dinner and I am about to start doing some homework, but I was feeling inspired to write and uninspired to read, so here I am. Its been a while, but there is nothing too too exciting to write about. I went to CORDOBA 2 weekends ago- it is a cute city about 9 hours Northeast of Buenos Aires. I went with Alba, we stayed at a hostel called Le Grand Hostel in Nueva Córdoba and had a relaxing weekend of strolling around the city. We went for a day to Villa Carlos Paz, which is apparently a tourist destination in the summer, but its really not. We went on a foggy Monday and it was totally empty and yucky. Kind of a disappointment. There are a lot of beautiful churches and theaters in Cordoba and a lot of Jesuit influence. There are tons of universities in the city so it is really young and the nightlife is great. We went out one night to this club called Malibu (which we nicknamed The Bu) and danced to Beyonce and Rhianna and 50 cent, it was so much fun. We also saw Mucho Ruido Pocos Nueces one night at the theater -that is spanish for Much Ado About Nothing, which we found out only minutes before the show started. It was really nice and the theater was so pretty. The show was a more modern take on the play so it was more entertaining and easier to understand. We really walked around the city a lot and took tons of pics.

This week I had another big paper due for my fútbol class, but it went really well. I wrote about a movie I saw called Offside about Iranian girls who dress up as boys so they can watch soccer games at the stadium- they are banned in Iran. It was really interesting and I wrote about the movie and compared it a little bit to some of what I know and have seen about women soccer players and games in Argentina. I went to my host brother Juan's soccer game in Pilar last Saturday with Becca & Joanna. His team is called La Brigada Z . We acted as cheerleaders. They lost - it was an awkward and smelly ride home!! There were some women's teams playing at the tournament, which is what inspired me to write about women and soccer.

This weekend I went out a lot with some new girlfriends I have - Molly, Emily, and Lissy. They are so nice and funny and the 4 of us plus Liam hung out practically all weekend. Molly's mom was in town so she rented a nice apartment and we baked Funfetti cake (which she brought for us all the way from the states!!!) and watched movies. On Saturday I went to La Plata with Libby & Alba, which is about 1 hour away and it is the Capital of the province of Buenos Aires. BA is the capital of the republic of Argentina but not the capital of the province that is also called BA. It was nice - we had great weather and the highlight of the trip was definitely the amazing cathedral in the heart of the city.

Some of the places I went to this weekend (more for my own purposes, sorry, so that I can remember them!! haha..or if you plan on coming to BA!) - Ate Indian food at Tandoor with Joanna and her 2 roomates Kate & Emily. Tried to go to the exclusive Shampoo Buenos Aires nightclub but got massively dissed- they told us that if we wanted to go to a big boliche that we should probably go to Asia de Cuba. Went to Club Lansky 2 times this weekend to dance to reggaeton - amazing. Went to Donata with Molly's parents, went to TGI Friday's after that for a 3 x 2 dessert special!!! Amazing. Went to Congo for about 5 minutes - they do have an amazing outdoor terrace with lots of seating. Finally ended up at Madeline last night, the 24 hour pizza place I have been dying to go to.

I am off to read more. I am going south to Bariloche next weekend with my program; I am really excited for a planned and paid for weekend trip!! I think it will be really fun and we have lots of plans to do cool outdoor adventures, hikes, etc.

Love & miss all of you and American food so much!! : ) xoxo